On the day of an ablation, you will come to University of Iowa Health Care. All Afib ablations are done in the cardiac catheterization lab (cath lab).
You will check in at the Cardiac Procedure Recovery Unit (CPRU), where you will get ready.
You will be given a sedative to help you relax. You will also get an IV into a vein in your arm to give you medicine and fluids.
You will not be awake during the procedure. A local anesthetic may be used to numb the skin where the catheters will be placed into your groin. The catheters are guided to your heart.
Ablation catheters send heat or cold energy, or electrical pulses to the heart tissue in the top left chamber. This creates small scars that block the abnormal signals from coming from the veins that bring blood back from the lungs.
The procedure takes one to four hours.
The contents of this website are for information purposes only and not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not rely on the information provided for medical decision making and should direct all questions regarding medical matters to their physician or other health care provider. Use of this information does not create an express or implied physician-patient relationship.